{"id":9805,"date":"2015-03-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.familylife.com\/flministries\/?p=9805"},"modified":"2025-03-03T17:28:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T22:28:59","slug":"her-world-was-broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/faith\/essentials-faith\/becoming-a-christian\/her-world-was-broken\/","title":{"rendered":"Her World Was Broken"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The following in an excerpt from our <\/em>FamilyLife Today\u00ae interviews with Christopher and Angela Yuan.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

———-
Dennis Rainey:<\/strong> Together, Christopher and Angela Yuan have really forged quite a team. They travel and speak, both nationally and internationally, at churches, conferences, and youth conventions. Angela is a businesswoman and specializes in Chinese-American cultural causes. Christopher teaches at Moody Bible Institute. Together, they have written a book called Out of a Far Country. <\/em><\/a>It\u2019s subtitled, \u201cA gay son\u2019s journey to God.  A broken mother\u2019s search for hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Lepine: <\/strong>Angela, when had you begun to become suspicious about Christopher and his sexuality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela Yuan: <\/strong>Actually, that was back when he was 16 years old. He had some kind of relationship with an older man, and we went to counseling. We thought that was taken care of after a couple of sessions of counseling; but in the back of my mind, I was always afraid that this would come back again. So, when he came back [to visit home after a year in dental school in Louisville] I confronted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis: <\/strong>You\u2019d found a pornographic videotape in his bedroom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob: <\/strong>Did you confront him with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>Yes, we did. \u2026 Then, after I asked him, \u201cAre you still … ?\u201d he said, \u201cYes, I am gay.\u201d You have to realize, I was not a Christian at that time. The only thing I could do was threaten. I said, \u201cEither you choose homosexuality or you choose your family.\u201d \u2026 Christopher just said, \u201cI cannot change. If you cannot accept me, I have to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob: <\/strong>You thought, when you confronted Christopher, he would say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll leave all this behind because family is that important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>Exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher Yuan: <\/strong>You know, for Chinese, we view family to be very, very important; and yet, at that age, I thought: \u201cI\u2019m not Chinese. I\u2019m American! American is about being independent. I don\u2019t need my family.\u201d Besides, this was such a core part of me that, \u201cIf you can\u2019t accept me, I have no other choice but to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis: <\/strong>Had they responded with how Christians ought to respond in a situation like this\u2014out of compassion, out of love, out of concern\u2014do you think it would have made any difference?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher: <\/strong>I think it would have. I think it probably would have surprised me \u2026 I was walking away from everything that was important\u2014family. Yet from my perspective, I was just disowned from my parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis: <\/strong>Rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher: <\/strong>Rejected. And not at all to justify my actions, but that was my perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob: <\/strong>Angela, you said that you were not a Christian, growing up. Had you had any spiritual development, at all, growing up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>Not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob: <\/strong>Did you have any concept of God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>I heard about the word \u201cGod,\u201d but I had no concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob: <\/strong>So, when Christopher said, \u201cI\u2019m leaving,\u201d you responded from tradition and from the values that your family had held, growing up, but not from any spiritual foundation, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>\u2026 You know, I think I just felt embarrassed\u2014shame \u2026 I felt betrayal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob: <\/strong>Christopher, when you got back to Louisville with this newfound liberation\u2014that opened up the door for you to fully engage in the gay lifestyle. Before, you had kind of been tentative; but now, there was nothing holding you back. You started clubbing, and school really became secondary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher: <\/strong>Well, you know, I wouldn\u2019t have said it like that; but definitely, when I look back, I thought <\/em>I could have both. \u2026 Unfortunately, I also got involved in doing drugs while I was going to dental school. Because I didn\u2019t have a lot of money, I then began to sell drugs. And that\u2014like you said\u2014it just opened the door. Sin always has a way of finding you. You don\u2019t have to go looking for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after some time, the school noticed that my grades were being affected. Also, my attendance had dropped. They had put me on probation. They had actually suspended me. Finally, I was just about three months before receiving my doctorate, and they expelled me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis: <\/strong>Meanwhile, Angela, you were watching all this spiral down in your son\u2019s life. This had a different impact on you.><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela: <\/strong>Yes, because during that time our marriage was broken, also. We were in the process of doing the paperwork for a divorce. I just felt there was no reason for me to continue to live. I decided to end my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I felt the need to meet with a minister. Again, remember I was not a Christian. I had no religion background. For some reason, I wanted to see a minster. My husband was teaching at Loyola Dental School, and there\u2019s a chaplain. I went to see him. He gave me a book on homosexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took the book and got on the train.  I bought a one-way train ticket to see Christopher for the last time. I wanted to say goodbye to him before I ended it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the train, when I was reading [the book], it helped me to realize God\u2019s unconditional love. That was the Holy Spirit working in my heart. For the first time, I understood the meaning of unconditional love. We are all sinners; but God still loves us, in spite of our sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I could love Christopher, in spite of him living as a gay man. God was changing my life \u2026 I was on the train for hours and hours. Then, after I got off the train \u2026 I contacted a lady [listed on the back of the book] and she began to disciple me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to see Christopher, too. I was able to say, \u201cI love you.\u201d Before, I didn\u2019t want him. I felt he was rebellious. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lady discipled me for five weeks\u2014I rented an extended-stay apartment in Louisville. After I went back home, my husband realized the difference in me. He started going to church with me. We went to a Bible study called Bible Study Fellowship together. Through God\u2019s Word, both of us just began to grow deeper and deeper in the knowledge of God and His Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis: <\/strong>Christopher, how did that impact you [when she came to visit you]?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christopher: <\/strong>Well, she didn\u2019t tell me she was coming. She surprised me at the dental school. I just thought, \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d \u2026 But when she said, \u201cI love you,\u201d I knew that there was a difference \u2026 I was really taken aback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis: <\/strong>I think the message is clear to every parent who may have his or her hopes dashed by a prodigal\u2014who doesn\u2019t necessarily follow in their footsteps or follow the teaching that they\u2019ve given them. The route to take is the route of love\u2014the route of compassion. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I would say to the listener today, who has tuned in and perhaps heard a portion or all of this story: Regardless of what you\u2019ve done, no matter where you are, no matter what lifestyle you\u2019ve chosen\u2014there is a God who loves you, who gave His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on a cross on behalf of your sins so you could be forgiven. He defeated death and is alive today. Because He\u2019s alive, He can forgive you. He can offer you the free gift of eternal life. It is yours for the taking if you will accept Him, just as Angela did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to the FamilyLife Today interviews<\/a> with Christopher and Angela Yuan to learn the rest of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a92013 by FamilyLife. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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